Dog Days of Summer
' ''Dog Days of Summer''' is the 32nd arc in ''Housepets!. It marks the introduction of Spirit Dragon and Great Kitsune, who along with Pete the Griffin make up the "cosmic nerds", three demigods using Earth (and Babylon Gardens, specifically) to play a tabletop RPG game named Universes & Unrealities. It also reveals that Tarot's psychic powers are connected to Spirit Dragon. Characters * King Milton * Fox Lindberg * Pete the Griffin * Sasha Hartford * Daisy * Tarot * Grape Jelly Sandwich * Fido Byron * Spo * Spirit Dragon (debut) * Great Kitsune (debut) * Miles * Daryl (off-panel) * Keene Milton * Miles' cubs ** "Darth Vader Sanchez" ** "Space-Laser" Story One hot summer afternoon, King and Fox are just relaxing under a tree, trying to keep cool. Fox is reading idly, while King complains about the heat. Fox asks King if he's interested in going to the Good Ol' Dogs' Club Fourth of July cookout. King says while he'd enjoy free food, he's still not over what Bino did to him at the Christmas party. Fox says King needs to try to make more friends, and he'd make a good suitor for the ladies. King is intimidated, but Fox promises he will make sure King has a good time. However, Pete refuses to allow King to go, as he has business to attend to that evening, and is unwilling to allow King unattended. When King resists, Pete puts him in a locked dog carrier. Trying to figure out what to do, he decides to try to call someone. He methodically moves the carrier to the nearest phone, but when he tries to knock the receiver loose, he instead tips it over and tumbles down the stairs. Fox comes over to find King, having tumbled out of the carrier, with a concussion. After helping King get cleaned up, they go to the party. King ends up getting his first orange soda ever as a pet, and gets intoxicated on one can. He quickly starts hitting on females. First Sasha, but she doesn't want to stray from Bino that evening; she suggests another night. Then Daisy, but he cannot communicate with her. When he hits on Tarot, however, she tells him she doesn't date humans. He's startled out of his intoxication. King asks Grape who that last female was, and she says who it was. She then threatens King for hitting on Peanut's girlfriend. Fido says he saw Tarot walk further into the woods. He wants to at least apologize to her, but he only finds Pete in his large griffin form. Pete says King's presence will ruin everything. But before it goes too far, Tarot appears, and suddenly transforms into a gigantic dragon, the "Spirit Dragon". The dragon says Pete has been abusing the "rules". She explains to Pete that Tarot is her avatar. King is livid at being used as a piece in a cosmic game. Spirit Dragon shows King the nature of the game: a D&D-style tabletop RPG called "Universes & Unrealities". Pete explains that King is perceiving things at a level a mortal can understand, and the game is far more complex than he can comprehend. The game master, "Great Kitsune", appears to settle grievances between Pete and Dragon. Pete interjects, saying his temple was moved. Dragon says a third party moved it. Kitsune rules in Dragon's favor on that. Dragon's argument is that the game specifies that only cats and dogs can be avatars, but Pete transformed a human into a dog against his will to make him his avatar. She argues that changing him against his will is against the "free agency" rule. Pete says she had already used her avatar to prevent him getting Grape as his avatar, and wonders why Tarot remains with Peanut. Dragon says Tarot has fallen in love with him, but also intimates that she loves him as well, to Pete and Kitsune's amusement. King asks why he remains a dog. Kitsune says the rules aren't about what the mortals want, per se, but he goes by intrinsic benevolence. If you are part of the game, your choices can be overridden. King argues that Pete never received his consent before changing him into a dog. Kitsune rules in Dragon's favor, and bars Pete from the game board until he finds another avatar. As for King, Kitsune cannot change him back. He knows Pete won't do it, and he can't allow Dragon to do it since King is now an unrelated third party. He tells King he'll have to deal with it, but he can earn rewards in the game. He will get one shortly to compensate for the forced transformation, and will get one at the end of the game. He then has King wake up. King wakes up with a hangover, finding a Kitsune statuette in his room. He goes into the bathroom, and starts to shave. He shaves a little fur off his face before he realizes what he's doing. He also realizes he's not in Pete's house. It turns out, he's been moved to Miles' house. King has been placed in Keene Milton's Equal Chance Program and assigned to live with the Wolves. King is ecstatic to be away from Pete, but asks why there's a shaving kit in their bathroom. It turns out to be Daryl's. King meets Keene, who explains the situation. Steward got a call that Pete vanished overnight. When King was found unconscious in the woods by the K-9 Unit, Keene took him in until his owner returns. King begs Keene to grant him asylum, something Keene does not expect. As Keene and Fox discuss the matter, Miles' cubs start to play with King, which involves them burying him in the yard. Events *This arc introduces Spirit Dragon and Great Kitsune, the other two Cosmic Nerds. *It is revealed Tarot's powers are connected to Spirit Dragon. *King learns he is part of the Cosmic Game, a giant tabletop RPG, and Pete turned him into a dog so he can be his avatar, as avatars can only be dogs or cats. *We learn Spirit Dragon used Tarot in order to prevent Pete from acquiring Grape as an avatar, which he tried to do in The Grove, and has since developed a crush on Peanut. *Great Kitsune reveals he nor Spirit Dragon can turn King back to a human. *Pete disappears from Babylon Gardens. *King is placed in the Equal Chance Program and permanently moves into the Wolf House. Trivia *This the second time a King has had a swear censored, the first time being in It's A Wonderful Dog's Life. *Rick's character Ponbon is featured as an ice cream treat. He would later go on to appear as a parade balloon in Noob Tube, before finally appearing as himself in PsyCon. *Fox's line from Hot And Bothered is used for the third Housepets! Book, "Can Be Real Ladykillers" **In addition the cover of the book depicts King from this arc when he got drunk on orange soda. Category:2010 Category:Comics Category:Story Arcs Category:King Saga Category:Cosmic Nerds Category:The Wolves Pack